That Girl
Encyclopedia
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC
from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas
as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York
to make it big in New York City. Ann had to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts, though she nonetheless was able to afford a spacious Manhattan apartment as well as an extensive wardrobe of mod fashions. Ted Bessell
played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp
played Lou Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell
and Ruth Buzzi
played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky
and Sam Denoff
, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show
(and with which Thomas' father Danny Thomas
was closely associated) earlier in the 1960s.
, and seeing (and exchanging winks with) her double in a store window. In the last season, lyrics were added to the theme song.
That Girl was the first sitcom to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living with her parents in their home. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly successful Mary Tyler Moore Show and Murphy Brown
, and an early indication of the changing roles of American women in Feminist-era America. Thomas's goofy charm, together with Bessell's dry wit and the strong chemistry they shared, made the show a solid performer on ABC, although throughout its five-year run, the series' ratings never made the top 30.
At the end of the 1969-1970 season, That Girl
was still doing quite well in the ratings; however, after four years, Thomas had grown tired of the series and wanted to move on. ABC convinced her to do one more year. In the beginning of the fifth season, Don and Ann became engaged, although they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged at the end of the run of the series was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She did not want to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them.
skit featuring cast member Danitra Vance
in an African American
remake That Black Girl, as a sequence on episodes of Animaniacs
, The Simpsons
, Family Guy
, Arthur
and Roseanne
.
It was also parodied in the precredits teaser of an episode of The Nanny
where Maxwell's guest-starring mother encounters Fran at the florist; in another episode of The Nanny, Peter Bergman
, playing himself acting in The Young and the Restless
casts Fran in the soap by asking for a co-star like "that girl!" while pointing to Fran.
An episode from Ugly Betty
had Fabia forcing Wilhelmina Slater
into making an exchange: she'll give up her wedding date to Wilhelmina in exchange for the services of Wilhelmina's assistant, Marc St. James
, after Fabia evokes those famous opening lines.
has released all five seasons of That Girl on DVD in Region 1. Each release contains extensive bonus features including episodic promos, featurettes, commentary tracks and the original pilot episode.
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment
has released all 5 seasons on DVD in Australia/New Zealand. On April 21, 2010, Madman released That Girl- The Complete Series, a 21-disc box set that features all 136 episodes of the series as well as extensive bonus features.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas
Marlo Thomas
Margaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl . She also serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York
Brewster, New York
Brewster is a village within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York, United States. Its population was 2,162 at the 2000 census. The village is the most densely populated portion of the town...
to make it big in New York City. Ann had to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts, though she nonetheless was able to afford a spacious Manhattan apartment as well as an extensive wardrobe of mod fashions. Ted Bessell
Ted Bessell
Ted Bessell was an American television actor and director.-Early career:Born in Flushing, New York, Bessell grew up in Manhasset on Long Island, New York. He was originally gearing up for a career as a classical musician...
played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
played Lou Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell
Bernie Kopell
Bernard Morton "Bernie" Kopell is an American television character actor who is probably best known for his roles as Dr. Adam Bricker in The Love Boat and KAOS agent Siegfried in Get Smart...
and Ruth Buzzi
Ruth Buzzi
Ruth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky
Bill Persky
Bill Persky is an American Emmy Award-winning director, screenwriter, producer, and actor for television. With his long time late collaborator Sam Denoff he wrote and created the television show "That Girl" starring Marlo Thomas.-External links:...
and Sam Denoff
Sam Denoff
Samuel Denoff was an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, television producer. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. With his long time collaborator Bill Persky he wrote and created the television show "That Girl" starring Marlo Thomas.-External links:*- References :...
, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
(and with which Thomas' father Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
was closely associated) earlier in the 1960s.
Storyline
Each episode begins with a pre-credits teaser in which an odd incident would occur or a discussion would foreshadow the episode's story. The scene would almost always end with someone exclaiming "...that girl!" just as Ann wandered into the shot or the character noticed her. The words "That Girl" would appear over the freeze-frame shot of Ann. The opening credits featured Thomas, in character, ambitiously strolling the streets of New York, flying a kite in Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, and seeing (and exchanging winks with) her double in a store window. In the last season, lyrics were added to the theme song.
That Girl was the first sitcom to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living with her parents in their home. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly successful Mary Tyler Moore Show and Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
, and an early indication of the changing roles of American women in Feminist-era America. Thomas's goofy charm, together with Bessell's dry wit and the strong chemistry they shared, made the show a solid performer on ABC, although throughout its five-year run, the series' ratings never made the top 30.
At the end of the 1969-1970 season, That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
was still doing quite well in the ratings; however, after four years, Thomas had grown tired of the series and wanted to move on. ABC convinced her to do one more year. In the beginning of the fifth season, Don and Ann became engaged, although they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged at the end of the run of the series was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She did not want to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them.
Production notes
Although never officially credited as such (as Persky and Denoff are the "official" creators and executive producers), Thomas was the de facto creator and executive producer of the series through her Daisy Productions, which she formed specifically for the series; it was credited on-screen as the production company.- That Girl was filmed at Desilu Cahuenga (now called Ren-Mar StudiosRen-Mar StudiosRen-Mar Studios was a rental studio located at 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, California, on premises that were formerly the home of Desilu Productions. It was first built in 1915 as Metro Pictures Back Lot #3, and has been used for a wide variety of film and television production, and the...
) located at 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood.
- Thomas's sister Terre, her brother Tony, and father DannyDanny ThomasDanny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
all appeared in a 1969 episode called "My Sister's Keeper".
Popular culture
The show's theme song and opening visuals have been parodied in pop culture several times. They appeared as a series of T-shirts, then as a Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
skit featuring cast member Danitra Vance
Danitra Vance
Danitra Vance was an American comedienne and actress best known as a cast member on the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live during its eleventh season and for work in feature films like Sticky Fingers , Limit Up and Jumpin' at the Boneyard .-Career:Born in Chicago, Vance graduated from nearby...
in an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
remake That Black Girl, as a sequence on episodes of Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, Arthur
Arthur (TV series)
Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...
and Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
.
It was also parodied in the precredits teaser of an episode of The Nanny
The Nanny (TV series)
The Nanny is an American television sitcom co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc., and Fran Drescher in association with TriStar Television for the CBS network...
where Maxwell's guest-starring mother encounters Fran at the florist; in another episode of The Nanny, Peter Bergman
Peter Bergman
Peter Bergman is an American soap opera actor best known for his portrayals as Dr. Cliff Warner on All My Children, as well as Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless.-Biography:...
, playing himself acting in The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
casts Fran in the soap by asking for a co-star like "that girl!" while pointing to Fran.
An episode from Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
had Fabia forcing Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Vivian Slater is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played by Vanessa Williams, who received a supporting actress award at the 2007 and 2008 NAACP Image Awards, a Best TV Villain award at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards and a supporting actress...
into making an exchange: she'll give up her wedding date to Wilhelmina in exchange for the services of Wilhelmina's assistant, Marc St. James
Marc St. James
Marcus "Marc" St. James is a fictional character in the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. He is played by Michael Urie...
, after Fabia evokes those famous opening lines.
DVD releases
Shout! FactoryShout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
has released all five seasons of That Girl on DVD in Region 1. Each release contains extensive bonus features including episodic promos, featurettes, commentary tracks and the original pilot episode.
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
has released all 5 seasons on DVD in Australia/New Zealand. On April 21, 2010, Madman released That Girl- The Complete Series, a 21-disc box set that features all 136 episodes of the series as well as extensive bonus features.
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | ||
| Season One | 30 | May 16, 2006 | October 11, 2006 |
| Season Two | 30 | November 14, 2006 | March 14, 2007 |
| Season Three | 26 | August 7, 2007 | November 7, 2007 |
| Season Four | 25 | August 12, 2008 | November 11, 2008 |
| Season Five | 23 | May 5, 2009 | August 5, 2009 |
External links
- That Girl page on Shout! FactoryShout! FactoryShout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...